2010 PokerStars.net EPT Berlin

Day 1b completed

Posted 03-04-2010 00:58 GMT+2

Day 1b Wraps Up

A massive field of 557 players packed the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here in Berlin, Germany for the second flight of players for the 2010 PokerStars.net EPT Berlin. Out of those that enetered, roughly 300 players remain and will move onto Day 2, joining the 196 players that moved on from Day 1a.

Although we don't have any exact numbers of chip counts just yet, a couple stacks stood out to us while browsing the room towards the end of the night. Marc Inizan bagged up 177,000 chips, but it looks to be Tu Tuan To at 212,600 that will be the end-of-the-day chip leader.

Some of those moving on to Day 2 will be Team PokerStars members Marcel Luske, Noah Boeken, Jude Ainsworth, Fatima Moreira de Melo and William Thorson.

That feat wasn't accomplished by fellow team member Lex Veldhuis, who had a roller coaster day before finally giving up all of his chips. Joining Veldhuis on the rail from Day 1b are Carter Phillips, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Rob Hollink and Davidi Kitai.

With both starting days in the books, you can bet that action will heat up from here on out as we grow closer to the money. Play will resume tomorrow with all remaining players in the mix at 12:00 p.m. CET. Be sure to keep your browser locked on to PokerNews for all the live updates from the floor.

Take Five

No, not a break, but hands. The tournament staff has just announced that there will be five more hands played out by each table and then the players will bag and tag. About 300 players remain currently, which will make for a very plump ballroom tomorrow for Day 2 when Day 1a and 1b survivors combine.

Saout Dips, Then Recovers

Antoine Saout had taken a bit of a dip to 70,000, but recovered to 80,000 when he bet out 10,000 on the turn of a board and forced his opponent to fold.

Tags: Antoine Saout.

Just Trying to Make It Through

As is with most early days of a major tournament, the end of the starting days seem to last forever. Action slows down immensely and the players just don't want to budge. Some even resort to playing nothing other than aces or kings and just bide their time until the bell rings for the end of the final round of play. You can't win a tournament on the first day, but you can certainly lose it. The remaining 300 or so players all seem to have the same mentality: Just sit tight and make it through to Day 2.

Roche Killer

Charlotte Roche - a very famous face on European TV and now also a PokerStars sponsored player - was having a very excellent day until quite recently. She was up to almost 60,000 just 10 minutes ago, but as we strolled past her table just now we noticed that she was down to 25,000 and looking rather glum...

Tags: Charlotte Roche.

Feldman Can't Call the River

A pot worth a few thousand chips sat in the middle of the table between Andrew Feldman and one other player. The board read and Feldman was faced with a bet of 3,000 from his opponent. After a half of a minute went by, Feldman made the call.

The turn brought the and completed a few draws out there. The first player checked and then Feldman checked behind.

The river was the and the first player fired 10,000. Feldman tanked for a few minutes. He even tried asking his opponent if he had a big hand to try and pry some information from the man. But, his opponent was not answering and he wasn't moving a muscle. Eventually, Feldman tapped the table and mucked his hand, giving up the pot and dropping to 88,000 chips.

Tags: Andrew Feldman.

Luske on the Up

With 12,000 in the pot by the river of the board, Marcel Luske bet out 6,500. His opponent teased him with a short spell in the tank but ultimately folded, and Luske is up to 68,000.

Tags: Marcel Luske.

Anyone's Game

As we creep towards the end of play, there is no obvious chip leader in sight. There are a good few folks sitting on stacks around the 100,000 mark, but so far no uber-stacks have emerged.

A few of those biggish stacks are:

Dag Palovic - 120,000
Jude Ainsworth - 110,000
Fatima Moreira de Melo - 100,000

Level Nine, You're So Fine, You're So Fine You Blow My Mind

Last level of the day, folks.

Shuffle up and deal...